We¡¯ve already reported that there are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic scattered across our oceans. They¡¯ve already reached the North Pole, something that can occur thanks to the nature of ocean water currents. However, scientists have also made another worrying discovery.?
Researchers from the Newcastle University have now discovered plastic in the deepest part of the ocean; the Mariana Trench.?
Newcastle University
It¡¯s not just accumulating on the ocean floor either, it¡¯s also inside crustaceans that live there. This despite the fact that the Mariana Trench is 10,970 metres deep. The study reported that five other deep-ocean trenches also show that the crustaceans there have microplastics in their guts.
¡°Litter discarded into the oceans will ultimately end up washed back ashore or sinking to the deep-sea,¡± marine ecologist and leader of the study Alan Jamieson said. ¡°There are no other options.¡± The research itself was funded by Sky Ocean Rescue, a campaign by European broadcaster Sky to combat ocean pollution. In February, Jamieson and his team reported that these deep trenches are being polluted by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). PCBs are toxic chemicals used in many industries that have been banned since 1979 while PBDEs, which are used as flame retardants, have been banned because they might adversely affect the reproductive, immune and nervous systems.??
Jamieson and his team used deep sea nets and cameras to capture 90 specimens from the bottom of the six trenches surveyed. Every single one of those had ingested the plastics, to the point that in some cases ¡°the fibers could actually be seen in the stomach contents as they were being removed.¡±
REUTERS
Deep-sea creatures like these survive by eating tiny food fragments that drift down into the trenches. When tiny pieces of plastic also float down, they end up being ingested as well.
¡°These observations are the deepest possible record of microplastic occurrence and ingestion,¡± Jamieson said, ¡°indicating it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by anthropogenic debris.¡±